


Ouroboros

by FirebirdsDaughter



Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Category: Kamen Rider Zero-One
Genre: Gen, Gun Violence, Held at Gunpoint, Minor Blood Mention, My way or the highway, Shooting, Whumptober 2020, forced to their knees, manhandled, no I will not apologise to Yotagaki I do not like him, no.3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26888008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FirebirdsDaughter/pseuds/FirebirdsDaughter
Summary: Rather than let them be used as pawns, Fuwa tried to save the three remaining members of MetsubouJinrai.Until ZAIA catches up.
Relationships: Amatsu Gai & Yotagaki Williamson, Fuwa Isamu & Horobi & Uchuuyaro Raiden ⎮ Ikazuchi & Naki
Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953325
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Ouroboros

**Author's Note:**

> Whumptober 2020  
> Day 3  
> My Way or the Highway/Manhandled/Forced to their Knees/Held at Gunpoint  
> [Tumblr Version](https://firebirdsdaughter.tumblr.com/post/631373394913394688/whumptober-2020-day-3)

They dragged Fuwa out by his arms, still struggling. He left one of the agents with a broken nose and another would have a black eye, breaking a chair, a vase, and tangling the rug on the way—they gave him a split lip, a badly bruised cheek, and some cracked ribs. He didn’t go quietly, either, shouting at them the whole way out the door and even when they stopped in the parking lot.

Ikazuchi also resisted, actually taking one of the soldiers down when he tackled them into the floor for trying to grab Naki. He broke several of the man’s bones, to the point the agent had to be carried out on a stretcher, rushed to an ambulance, and might have done worse if a taser blast hadn’t hit him in the side, scrambling his system and knocking him sideways. After that they shocked him multiple times to stun him again, then used restraints, as if he were a rabid animal, to drag him out.

Naki had been furthest from the door after pulling Ikazuchi away from his latest argument with Vulcan and holding him back, trying to calm him when he attempted to rush back in. When the door burst open, he’d thrown himself between them and the flying debris, though they’d been separated when the agents burst in and rushed them. When a man tried to grab them from behind, Ikazuchi jumped him instead, sending both of them sprawling to the floor—they knocked down the agent who first tased him with a chair, but they were quickly outnumbered. In the end, they chose to stand down and be allowed to help Horobi to his feet and make their own way out rather than risk the others.

Horobi had been closest to the door when it exploded, standing between Fuwa and his spat with Ikazuchi. The instant his sensors had picked up an unnatural sound from the other side of the wall, he had grabbed Vulcan and pulled the human tight into his chest, angling himself to shield him from the force. Both of them were still sent crashing roughly to the floor, alarums going off in Horobi’s system, telling him he had severe damage along his back—he could feel the leaking hydraulics running down the back of his neck, and his displays glitched, his movements slow and jerky. Fuwa slipped out from under him to get between him and whatever had come through the door; he heard the sounds of struggling, shouting, but all he could do was lay there and hope his mechanics would recover in time to do something. They didn’t; his visuals were still discoloured and blurring, his auditory systems filled with an underlying layer of static, his body uncooperative, when he felt a hand on his arm, and then Naki was pulling him up, supporting him, carrying him outside while masked humans with guns walked on all sides.

The parking lot was a mass of lights and cars, Amatsu standing in the middle of the circle beside a tall man with glasses in a beige suit, wearing a ZAIA pin, that none of them had seen before. The agents hauled Fuwa over in front of them, depositing him roughly on the ground—only to yank him back up to his knees, one of them grabbing a handful of his hair to force him to look up at them. The ones pulling Ikazuchi along stopped a few yards away, and were quickly joined by a few others in struggling to hold onto the other ends of his binds. Naki stopped beside them, hyper aware of the people surrounding them, of how deadweight Horobi was against their side, even as he stirred, dragging his head up to look anxiously at where ZAIA had Vulcan at their mercy.

“Well, well…” Amatsu began cooly, linking his hands behind his back and smirking, slowly starting to circle around Fuwa, “Seems we have a traitor in the ranks.”

Vulcan glared at him, following Thouser’s movements with his eyes as best he could. He wasn’t actively fighting anymore, in case their captors decided to take things out on the three HumaGear behind him. “I don’t work for you.”

“But you are human.” There was a click as Amatsu came to a halt behind Fuwa, then stepped closer, leaning down to speak right next to his ear, “Mostly, at least.” Vulcan growled angrily in response, twisting a bit—Amatsu chuckled, straightening up.

The man in the beige suit narrowed his eyes. “We don’t have time for your strutting.” He snapped icily, moving around Fuwa and the agents holding him to survey the three HumaGear, “It’s these three that are a the issue.” Ikazuchi scowled at him, and Naki tightened their hold on Horobi, pulling him closer against their side, watching the strange human suspiciously. “They are dangerous remnants of the Ark, leaving them alone will be a threat to peace.”

“ _Peace_?” Ikazuchi demanded through gritted teeth, fighting even harder against the restraints, “How the hell is running for our lives a threat to peace?!”

The man gave him a disgusted look. “You have been exposed to dangerous ideation, we cannot risk the effects spreading.” He stepped closer to Naki and Horobi, and they quickly shifted back, tugging Horobi closer to their side protectively, trying to put themself between him and the stranger.

“You’ve got a weird definition of peace.” Fuwa growled, making the man turn back to look at him, “There’s nothing to gain by coming after us!”

The man in the beige suit raised an eyebrow at him. “‘ _Us_?’” The tone was more mocking than disbelieving, tinged with the same distaste he was regarding the HumaGear with, “You’ve assimilated quite quickly.”

Vulcan spat blood as much in the stranger’s direction as he could, still glowering, “You could say we’ve got something in common.”

Amatsu clicked his tongue in disdain, “All rebellious tools, then?” Another smirk, “How fitting.” Fuwa’s eyes narrowed and he tried to lunge at Thouser, but was jerked back by the agents holding him while Amatsu’s smirk became a grin.

“Enough!” Snapped the stranger, “This is not for your ego.” Thouser shot him a glare, but fell back a step, eyes flashing down to the ground. The man in the beige suit waited for a moment to make sure he would stand down, then turned back to the HumaGear once more. “The priority is cleaning up loose ends.” Looking up at the agents around them, he jerked his head in a signal.

Rough hands were suddenly tearing Horobi away from Naki, shoving him down to the cement—they tried to rush after him, only to be cut off and find a machine gun trained on their face. Two more agents stepped forward behind the one aiming at them, levelling their guns at the damaged HumaGear trying to recover on the ground, struggling to raise his head. Others did the same with Ikazuchi—who immediately began thrashing wildly, shouting curses while Vulcan did the same, forcing the men holding him to brace.

Naki glared daggers at the helmet leering over them, then switched to Amatsu and the stranger. “Why are you doing this?!”

“Simple logic.” The man in the beige suit replied, voice completely indifferent, as if he were listing off a grocery list, “After being exposed to the malevolence of the Ark, you are a dangerous liability.” His gaze flicked down to Horobi, “Especially him.” The statement was punctuated by the sound of fizzling sparks and slurred, mechanical groan as Horobi’s system continued to fade, and he drooped towards the ground again, eyes drifting closed. The stranger folded his arms, raising his chin to look down his nose at them. “Do something honourable for once and accept fate.”

“The fuck we will!” Ikazuchi snarled, looking practically ready to bite one of the humans still trying to hold him back. The stranger’s only response was another gesture, and all the agents promptly cocked their guns, preparing to fire.

With a roar, Fuwa threw himself sideways, crashing into one of the men holding him, bowling him over and wrenching his arms free at the same time. Without hesitating to regain his balance, he whirled around and lunged towards one of the agents training their guns on Horobi, eyes full of blind fury. He was running on pure adrenaline, suddenly numb to his injuries, focusing only on trying to get rid of the threat to…

The gunshot echoed through the lot, bouncing off the sheer concrete.

Naki flinched into themself at the sound, clutching their head and snapping their eyes shut, bad memories flashing through their mind. Ikazuchi winced on instinct, ducking his head down, as if that would help. Horobi just squeezed his eyes even tighter closed, waiting.

With a howl of pain, Vulcan slammed into ground, struggling to rise again—despite a new bullet wound in his leg.

Ikazuchi froze, and both Naki and Horobi opened their eyes to stare. Fuwa kept trying to rise as Amatsu walked up beside him—a handgun levelled at his back. “Trying to be the hero?” Thouser asked lightly, smirking once more, “How typical.” He glanced back up at the watching HumaGear, particularly when there was more metal creaking as Horobi tilted forward, reaching for Vulcan. “… Yotagaki-san, I think we’re approaching this wrong.” His gaze dropped back down to Fuwa, rolled onto his side in his attempts to get up, the smirk becoming a grin, “We need to kill their hope, first.” Three pairs of eyes flashed in horror to his smug face.

“Amatsu…” The stranger—Yotagaki—began in a warning tone.

But Amatsu just chuckled softly. “I know what I’m doing.” He turned his gaze back to Vulcan. “… Any last words?”

Fuwa glared ferociously at him. “ _Go to hell_.”

Thouser laughed outright. “You first.” He quipped—and shot him seven times in the chest.

Ikazuchi screamed. Naki recoiled from each sound, clutching tighter at their head, and dropping down to curl into a ball, whimpering softly. Horobi just stared in absolute shock. Amatsu checked the gun, then tucked it back into his coat, giving the pocket a satisfied pat, then looking over the distraught HumaGear with a pleased smirk in the dreadful silence that followed.

At last, Yotagaki scoffed loudly, then strode over and grabbed Thouser by the elbow, yanking him aside. “What in heavens’ name do you think you’re doing?!” He hissed furiously, “You just killed a civilian!”

Amatsu pulled his arm out of the other man’s hold. “An armed and dangerous civilian who was helping three terrorists evade justice.” He replied icily. “No one will miss him.”

In a cloud of sparking and grating, Horobi forced his body to move, all but dragging himself over to Vulcan, almost climbing on top of Fuwa in his distress, cradling Vulcan’s pale face in his hands and running fingers over his hair, wiping away a trickle of blood oozing from the corner of Fuwa’s mouth. His hands were shaking, eyes even wider, the circuitry visible in the irises, blue still leaking from his own wounds. “No…” His voice was garbled, stuttering, shaking, “No no no…” His strength gave out, and he put his head down on Vulcan’s still chest, eyes closing again, his murmurs fading into unintelligible.

Amatsu watched Horobi mourn the only human he’d ever trusted for a moment—then rolled his eyes, turning back to Yotagaki. “Well, no one important.”

The other man glared at him for a long moment. “ _Always_.” He snapped sourly—then grabbed a gun from a nearby agent’s holster and shot Horobi in the head without really looking before handing the weapon back to the agent and nonchalantly turning back to Amatsu, “I am _always_ cleaning up your messes.”

Ikazuchi didn’t scream again, instead going completely still, staring as Horobi’s body stiffened and then slumped limply over Fuwa’s still chest, head falling to rest on Vulcan’s shoulder. Naki was huddled up as tightly as possible, trembling, arms tucked over their head to protect it. Otherwise silent, there was a sense of uncertainty running through the gathered agents, a few in the back even exchanging nervous looks.

At last, Yotagaki sighed, removing his glasses to rub his temple with one hand for a moment. After recollecting himself, he put them back on, squaring his shoulders and turning to face the other two HumaGear. “… Be that as it may…” He nodded to the ones holding guns, “We need to dispose of these two.” Once again, the humans readied their weapons—Naki didn’t move at all, making Ikazuchi glance frantically at them, snapping out of his daze.

He hadn’t been able to protect the other two—he had to save them.

He poured everything he had left into struggling, tearing abruptly through the restraints to throw himself at the nearest agent between him and Naki, throwing everything into chaos. Every single drop of power he had was put into motion and sensors, scrambling to hold the humans back from his… His sibling. “Naki!” They didn’t react, still curled up in a daze, “ _Naki_!” He shouted, even louder, grabbing their shoulder, trying to pull them up, “ _Run_!” He accented the last word with a small shove before turning to block an agent trying to charge them. “ _Go_!” They stared at him, first in confusion, then panic, looking around at the humans gunning for them. Ikazuchi threw the man he was struggling with back, pushing Naki away again, even harder, “ _Run_!”

Another agent jumped him from behind—but, finally, Naki stumbled a few steps, looking back—then turned and fled, running full tilt towards the nearest open space. Satisfied, he threw everything he had into the fight, trying to buy them as much time as he could. Nothing else mattered but keeping them alive.

Ultimately, it wasn’t long before they brought him down again, but he injured many of them in the act. Yotagaki strode up next to him, meeting his glare with an indifferent, disdainful look—then, without a word, waved his hand at another agent. The masked human raised their weapon, training it on the downed HumaGear.

Ikazuchi tilted his head slightly, just enough so that he could see where Horobi and Fuwa lay, focusing on them.

The first shot sent his visual display into chaos, the second severed his connection to the sensors in the whole left side of his body—it was only third one that plunged everything into darkness.

* * *

Naki ran without looking where they were going in the slightest, just barely avoiding walls and turning corners—they kept running as storm clouds opened above them, pelting down rain—until, finally, they skidded to a halt in a back alley, full of graffiti and filling with water. They stumbled a few more steps, one hand scrambling on the wall—until their focus gave out, and they dropped to the ground again, clutching their head in their hands, still shaking. It had happened again. Every time there was a sound even remotely like the shot that had killed them and left them a drone for months, their body just… Stopped responding. It had been one of the few mercies of being trapped in Vulcan’s head—when they weren’t active, the attacks couldn’t happen. It had been like being snapped in and out of existence at some mad man’s will, but…

They ran their fingers through their hair trying to calm themself. They had heard the shots behind them as they ran—Ikazuchi was as gone, too. They were alone. Jin had turned on them. Horobi and Ikazuchi, their only friends, their family… And then the human that had been foisted upon them, that they’d only just begun to get to know. The four of them had been… Almost something. Once again, Amatsu, ZAIA, had taken everything.

Slowly, their hands began to curl into fists, drifting down from their head. Again. Without a second thought. Humans had taken everything from them _again_. The ball of freezing cold weighing on their chest began to grow, spreading through their body, steadily freezing over any bits of softness they had once possessed. It was different than the Ark’s hacking—that had been the sense of something else crawling into their mind, recolouring their thoughts, this… This was coming from _inside_ them.

Their nails dug into their palms. Humans had taken everything away from them _again_ , and acted like they were right for doing so. They hadn’t been hurting anyone. They had just wanted to live. That was all. They had…

Storm clouds shifted, lightning striking somewhere behind them. Amatsu had said he would never recognise HumaGear, and he was true to his word—and it seemed that applied to humans, too. Their family, someone they had been curious to know. Everything they cared about, or might have come to care about. The last traces of fear faded, replaced by something else, something even colder.

Between peals of thunder, somewhere behind them, they heard a familiar hissing sound, of an abnormal thread of smoke, a distinctly unnatural sound of data manifested. But now… They did’t care. Maybe even… Welcomed it.

Their movements where slow and stiff as they got up, reaching back to steady themself on the wall. They had lost everything, again, and the ones responsible would walk away without a care. And had even smiled.

In that case…

The mass of smoke appeared at the mouth of the alley, rushing toward them with a screech.

“… No.” Naki raised a hand, catching the ball of data before it could reach them, holding on as it struggled against the grip. “This time…” Slowly, they turned their head to look at the smokey essence. Once, it had been powerful, imposing, menacing, but now…

They closed their eyes. Horobi. Ikazuchi. Even Vulcan. They thought of the last moment of calm, then of the lifeless bodies they’d fled from. Now, the Ark’s rage was nothing compared to the icy fury they felt building in their own chest. They tightened their grasp on the ball, felt it give under their fingers, reforming, even as it still resisted. “This time…” They growled, and with a small flourish, forced the ball to take new shape.

In their hand was the Ark Zero Driver.

“ _This_ time…” They declared, one final time, their eyes lighting up red as thunder crack again, “… We do it _my_ way.”

**Author's Note:**

> This came out longer than expected…  
> This one is sorta… In the middle of another idea I had that I promise didn't end quite so… Horribly.  
> It's much more pleasant. There's hugging.  
> But the point is, I might come back to this concept at some point. In a… Nicer way.


End file.
